Landau Theory for Commensurate Charge-Density Waves Coupled to Uniform Lattice Deformation

Abstract

We formulate a minimal Landau theory for a charge-density wave (CDW) whose commensurability is defined with respect to a deformed lattice. The motivation is provided by recent observations on an isolated single NbS$_3$ chain, which exhibits a commensurate CDW state accompanied by a $6\%$ shrinkage of the lattice constant. A uniform stretch $a_0\to a_0(1+\varepsilon)$ changes the reciprocal lattice wave number to $G(\varepsilon)=G_0/(1+\varepsilon)$, so that an $N$-fold commensurate CDW has the wave number $Q_\mathrm{C}(\varepsilon)=G(\varepsilon)/N$, whereas the wave number $Q_\mathrm{IC}$ favored by the incommensurate instability remains fixed. We propose an amplitude-strain free energy for both $N=3$ and $N=4$, in which the CDW induces a finite uniform strain by relieving the mismatch between $Q_\mathrm{C}(\varepsilon)$ and $Q_\mathrm{IC}$. The mismatch is shared between the CDW and the lattice in a proportion set by their stiffness ratio; since the CDW stiffness grows with the CDW amplitude, the lattice takes up an increasing share of the mismatch as the CDW develops. Our results suggest a reexamination of lock-in theories and of strain-tuning experiments on density-wave systems.